Sacrifice
by Alexriolover95
Summary: A normal school day turns into one of chaos and death, but still a teacher stands up and defends her students, saving them in exchange for her own life... Dedicated to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and in honor of Victoria Leigh Soto.


**So this is going to be one of those special one shots I talked about earlier.**

 **On December 14, 2012 (The day before my 17th birthday) the deadliest mass shooting at a high or grade school in the U.S. happened at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Connecticut…**

 **20-year Adam Lanza, armed with an assault rifle and a handgun, broke into the school and went on to fatally shoot 20 children between 6 and 7 years of age, as well as six of the school staff. It only ended when Lanza committed suicide as the first police units started arriving.**

 **However… The death toll would have been higher if some of the teachers weren't brave enough to stand up and defend their students. One of them was Victoria Leigh Soto who was shot while defending her first-grade students…**

 **This story is based on the shooting and Soto's heroic actions…**

* * *

It was a cold, windy day in the town of Newtown, Connecticut and a lone adult female Scarlet macaw, wearing a winter coat, walked on the freshly fallen snow in the town cemetery. She was going to visit a certain grave, the grave of her first grade teacher, Jewel Gunderson. As the female, by the name of Lisa, arrived at the grave, she prayed and then came down on her knees in front of the grave crying.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Gunderson." Lisa cried.

As she cried, her mind flashed back to that terrible day when her whole life changed and her world turned upside down…

 **Many years ago…**

Today was December 14 and everyone at the Sandy Hook Elementary School was very excited for the coming holiday break. You could see it on the faces of the kids and the school staff, as well as the decorations all over the school. And in one first-grade class, the teacher, a 27 year old female by the name of Jewel Gunderson was very happy as she was teaching her students.

"So, can anyone tell me how many cups of hot chocolate are left for Abigail if her two brothers, Mike and John had drank 7 out of the ten cups?" Jewel asked her students, teaching them basic math.

"Three." Lisa answered after she raised her hand.

"That's correct Lisa." Jewel smiled.

After the math lesson was done, Jewel allowed her students for a little snack break, in which everyone had holiday style snacks. Jewel used that moment to eat her own little snack from home, taking out a small bag of cookies, lovingly baked by her husband, Blu, in which was attached a note which said, "With love, from your Blu."

Jewel was just about to take her first bite of a cookie when suddenly very chaotic sounds rang in her ears, it was a sound you would not typically hear in a normal school day, it was a sound no one would ever want to hear in his or her lifetime…

It was the sound of gunshots and shouting, as well as some screaming.

Jewel put down her cookie and was scared, her face becoming pale. Looking at her students, they all stopped eating and one by one they started freaking out as to what was happening. Jewel got up from her chair and went to her students to calm them down.

"Okay everyone, stay clam and be quiet, it's going to be alright." Jewel told her students. "Okay everyone quietly try to pile into the class bathroom."

Jewel had a total of 16 students and not all of them could fit inside the bathroom. After putting as many students as possible in there, Jewel had to think fast, they could hide under their desks, which would hide them completely from the view of the door.

"Okay, everyone else, go under your desks and don't come out until I say so or the police comes." Jewel instructed her students and they all listened to their teacher, quietly, but fearfully going under their desks.

As they hid under their desks, some of them cried softly or prayed, hoping it would all be over soon. The sounds of gunshots and screaming seeming to come closer to them as the minutes passed.

As the last student hid under his desk and Jewel made sure they were all hidden, a loud banging at the classroom door was heard and Jewel, shaking but bravely walking froward, opened the door. In front of her was a white cockatoo, his face completely covered, he was holding an assault rifle in his wings…

"Where are your students!?" The cockatoo demanded to know.

Jewel breathed in and then out calmly before speaking.

"They were in gym class when you came, they are not here." Jewel answered, keeping her cool while lying.

"You better not be lying." The cockatoo said in a devilish voice. "But before I go…"

And the cockatoo raised his rifle and aimed it at Jewel's head and without a second thought, he pulled the trigger, sending a few bullets straight into Jewel's head.

Jewel had her eyes closed the whole time, a tear starting to fall out as she said goodbye to her husband and her three little kids, who luckily they were still in pre-school and thus not in the same school she was in. As Jewel was shot, she saw a flash of white light before finally her world became dark and black, Jewel's body landing down on the floor with a loud thud.

All of Jewel's students who heard the shots and their teacher's body landing down, were completely terrified and frightened, but they still listened to their teacher's instructions and stayed as quiet as they could.

Luckily the cockatoo didn't check the classroom at all, as if an angel from heaven came down and was watching over the young students, keeping them safe. However the students still didn't come out, still fearful that if they did the same thing that happened to their teacher, would happen to them.

Lisa prayed that she would get to see her parents and her much older brother and sister again, but she also prayed for her teacher's husband and kids. Mostly she prayed that her teacher is now in heaven, where nothing could hurt her ever again.

Many hours seemed to have passed as the students all stayed quiet, only the sound of the classroom clock ticking could be heard. After what seemed like a whole day to the students, the sound of the classroom door could be heard opening, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps.

Lisa held her breath in as they came closer and closer and suddenly an adult bird holding onto an assault rifle saw her. However he wasn't going to shoot, for it was a SWAT member, wearing a bulletproof vest, as well as his blue uniform.

"It's okay little one, I'm the police, we're here to rescue you." The SWAT member informed the little Scarlet girl, who was at first fearful, but slowly came out from the desk, with the help of the SWAT member.

As Lisa came out from under the desk, she saw two more SWAT members helping out her other classmates. As the whole class was finally out, the SWAT members escorted them out of the school building. As they left the room, Jewel's body was still there and the medics were currently putting her body in a body bag, to take her to the morgue.

As Lisa saw the medics take her teacher away, she saw the homemade cookies that her husband made still on the desk and uneaten, with the note right next to it. She saw what was written on the note and started to cry.

As the class got out of the school building, their parents and siblings were anxiously waiting behind a police barrier, hopeful that they kids were safe. As Lisa walked out, she heard a very familiar voice shouting at her.

"Lisa, Lisa!" An older's male voice called.

It was her older brother Alex, with her parents and older sister calling for her. Lisa ran to them and straight into her mother's open wings, all of them with tears of joy.

"We are so glad you are safe." Her dad, Albert cried.

"We were so scared about what would have happened to you." Her mom, Maria explained.

"I love you guys." Lisa cried as she continued hugging her mother. "But my teacher is gone."

 **Back to the Present…**

As the flashback to that day ended in Lisa's mind, she continued to remember what followed. She remembered the funeral for her teacher that happened, she remembered the body being lowered down into the ground while her husband, Blu, just felt empty and and completely heartbroken that his wife, the one he loved above everything else was gone. And the fact that she left behind three still very little children, who now would have to grow up without a mother, for Blu vowed to never remarry as long as he lived.

Also there was Jewel's father, Eduardo and her aunt, Mimi, who were just as destroyed as Blu was.

As the days went on, many honors were placed on Jewel, even receiving the Presidential Citizens Medal, posthumously, of course, for her brave actions that resulted in all her students surviving, at the cost of her own life.

Lisa never forgot her teacher who sacrificed her life so that she and all her other classmates can grow up and live their lives to the fullest. Lisa would go on to attend college, graduated and during the graduation she gave a speech, in which she thanked her first-grade teacher for helping to start her education and also save her life. As Lisa finished her education, she married Tiago, Jewel's son, and had three kids, two boys and one girl, of which she named the girl after her teacher.

As all those memories finished in Lisa's mind she got up from her position on the ground and prayed once more in front of the grave. After silently saying goodbye to her teacher, she walked slowly away, back to her car, to live out the rest of her life…

* * *

 **Okay, I'm not going to lie when I say that I really felt the tears start coming down…**

 **But… In reality, while here, all of the students in Jewel's class got out, in real life, in Soto's class, five out of the 16 students were shot and died, different accounts as to what happened in that room. But still Soto, like Jewel, bravely defended her students at the cost of her own life and because of her, 11 of her students still managed to survive.**

 **Soto would be honored greatly, having roads and schools named after her, the Presidential Citizens Medal awarded to her, and even a public facility in Puerto Rico named after her, where her father was born. And she was only 27 years old when the shooting happened…**

 **Rest in peace Soto and all the other victims of the shooting, may heaven treat you well!**


End file.
